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MEDICAL FAQs |
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Dive Medical questions & answers for common scuba diving conditions and illness provided in conjunction with the doctors at the London Diving Chamber and Midlands Diving Chamber. | |
All Categories » Cardiovascular System » Heart Attacks / Angina
QUESTION I've just had a qualified SAA-Dive supervisor asking to dive with us. He's had a bypass, but says he never had a heart attack/angina. His last medical is from January 1999. The operation took place before that date. I know it's not much info, but in your opinion, is he fit to dive?ANSWER He probably will be if what he says is true. It's surprising that he had a bypass though having never had any cardiac symptoms. Something has to lead a man into the cardiologist to have either a coronary angiogram or a thallium scan that would show the necessary poor blood supply from the cardiac arteries to the heart muscles that then ends up as a bypass. So the fact he says he has never had any angina or even the teeniest heart attack makes we wonder. QUESTION I had a heart attack on the 23rd August, apparently mild as it was quickly attended to. It has been reported as a clot in the right artery or in medical terms - acute inferior myocardial infarction. I was discharged from hospital after a 9 minute treadmill test.I am due to see a cardiologist later this month. I received strepokinase on admission and am now on Ramipril (5 mg), Simvastatin (20mg), Atenolol (50mg) and Aspirin (75mg).I have suffered no further pain since admission and am currently doing regular one-hour walks. On Saturday, I am meeting a hospital-trained fitness trainer to get a programme for further work. I am hoping to travel to Hawaii by the end of October and would like to do some diving. I have Padi Open Water 1 and probably about 100 dives behind me. I would not intend diving beyond 20 m at this stage. I am 61 years old. Is this sensible? Can I/should I have any specific checks or tests to be sure and where can I get this done? Thank you ANSWER Sorry to hear about your heart attack, but I guess the silver lining is that our medical advances mean that you can return to normal life a lot quicker than you could a few years ago. QUESTION I wonder if you could give me some advice. I have a colleague wanting to take up open water but has angina. He is on beta blockers (METAPROLOL)and carries a GTN spray. He also has a stent.Is he still able to dive.Thanks for your help as usual. ANSWER Someone who has had angina, corrected with a stent [a small plastic tube inserted into the coronary artery to keep it open] is often fine to dive. However your colleague's problem is that he has to have a GTN spray. This is an admission that he still gets the occasional attack of chest pain. He would then spray this under his tongue to help dilate the coronary arteries along with the other blood vessels. It would be hard to do this if he had an attack underwater. The other problem is the beta blockers. These are usually a bar to diving as they affect the heart's response to exercise and also can worsen breathing underwater. QUESTION I would like to do my Dive Master course. I understand that I would need to have a HSE medical. Would my previous heart attack in 2000 prevent me doing this course. I have no chest pain, was taken off cardiology consultant list after the first year following my heart attack. My BP is usually around 120/80 pulse resting is 70. No oedema around my ankles or wet cough.Thanks for any information about the Diver master course / HSE medical. ANSWER You are caught between a rock and a hard place here, so I hope the following makes sense. |